Seabreeze bungalows, bunaken divers. Don't go there

[Wayan]

. And 22 Euros a dive is quite expensive in Asia, particularly in Indonesia, especially given that most of the dive sites are a few minutes away, not to mention local cost of labor.

.

???? 22 Euros around USD 30..... I would say that is cheap, and you get what you pay for........

There is a lot more than Labour which is only 1 factor in running a dive op especially if foreign nationals are involved (O2 equip, new scuba equip, maintenance, local fees and charges, insurance, .......list goes on) It is becoming more and more expensive to live in Asia (which is all about the life style that you want of course,...........).

Would certainly need lots of numbers to make any sort head way / profit at these prices,

 

[Camel]

Thankyou Wayan. 22 euro plus full board is very cheap. There are cheaper places around but I would personally never recommend them to anyone.
Frogfish, dive operators are not charity organisations. There is not much room for profit on 22 euro a dive if you are running an organised operation,with qualified well trained guides, well maintained compressor / tanks and working boats with all the necessary safety equipment unless you have a big volume of traffic which North Sulawesi does not. Just for your info so u do not feel ripped off next time you dive in Indo, the running costs for a resort / dive operation have more than doubled in the last couple of years.
I am all for Forums and people posting reviews, good or bad. I do believe that it is only fair and correct that a bad report should also include some feedback from the operation in question. Believe it is called balanced journalism. Let everybody see both sides to a story and make up there own mind.

 

[frogfish]

???? 22 Euros around USD 30..... I would say that is cheap, and you get what you pay for........

There is a lot more than Labour which is only 1 factor in running a dive op especially if foreign nationals are involved (O2 equip, new scuba equip, maintenance, local fees and charges, insurance, .......list goes on) It is becoming more and more expensive to live in Asia (which is all about the life style that you want of course,...........).

Would certainly need lots of numbers to make any sort head way / profit at these prices,

Wayan, you are right, let me rephrase: 22 euros/ 30 USD is not particularly cheap for Indonesia, assuming this is for a diver that has his own equipment going to dive sites on average 2 to 15' from the resort, and hence I would not expect bad service. I can't comment on the P&L of a dive shop/ resort, but as a customer I have dived in many places in Indonesia for less or at that price with professional/ competent operators who were providing very decent to excellent service (including in Bali by the way)

 

[bumperbee]

I have to agree with frogfish. 22 Euros for a dive is not exactly cheap, but it is representative of the average price for a dive in Manado/Bunaken. So when one pays a price which is considered as average for that area, they should not expect below average service. It would be different if say one pays for 10 Euros a dive in Bunaken. He/she will then know that they paid well below the average, and may encounter some inconvenience.

 

[Tha Ozzie]

Hi all,

I and my girlfriend had a fantastic holiday in Indonesia this year. Besides travelling on Java and Bali we wanted to do some nice diving around Bunaken Island. We booked 4 days at Sea Breeze Dive Resort but stayed 3 days longer because we enjoyed Sea Breeze and the diving with Bunaken Divers so much! Our beachfront bungalow was just a few meters from the water and what is better than some relaxing and to enjoy the beautiful view of the sea from your hammock after diving The bungalow was very nice, clean and with a Bali style bathroom and was cleaned properly every day. The cosy restaurant with bar is also directly situated at the water and the food was really delicious and considerable varied.

The diving with Bunaken Divers was great with the seeing of whitetip reef sharks, giant turtles, lion fish, a large barracuda and a spotted eagle ray as highlights. Not to forget the dolphins at the surface and I have never seen so many nudibranchs before thanks to the fine spotting of Dedi and Damsi! The dive equipment from Bunaken Divers may not be the newest but we did not have any trouble or complaints about our dive equipment and where do you get new rental equipment.

It is regrettable to read the only negative opinion of Andwi and to be honest I find it hard to believe that this all is true. But okay everyone can have its own opinion and/or experience and this is mine. We did not have a bad experience at all and had a very good time at Sea Breeze. As already mentioned our bungalow was of good quality and was cleaned properly every day unless you did not leave the key at the reception. Before we chose our bungalow we had a look at some other bungalows and believe me there is no honeymoon suite at all so the statement of the honeymoon suite doesn't make the negative opinion very credible. But as I understand it correctly the honeymoon suite is what someone told to Andwi.

Sorry but I must also mention that the negative information about the dive guides is really incredible and I have a strong feeling that this is just to give Sea Breeze Resort and Bunaken Divers a bad name. The dive master and/or dive guides followed all procedures including saftety stop during all our dives. Lost divers, forgotten snorkelers (did they swim all the way back to the resort?) and a BCD exploding under water appears to be a ridiculous story and is it any way possible for a BCD to explode under water?
'One open water student went out of air because DIVEGUIDES never told him to signal when he was low on air': an open water student is always with a DIVE INSTRUCTOR and not only with a dive guide and I just cannot believe that the dive instructors Terry and Surya will ever forget to check the air of their students!

Happy to understand that Andwi didn't experience all shortcomings himself and that some bad experiences is what he may have heard from others. I hope Andwi will enjoy his next dive trip more! It is nice to read that more people had a good time at Sea Breeze like Scubalover111 and Frogfish who gives, in my view, a to the point and realistic response.

We have been diving before in Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Egypt, South Africa and Bonaire (Netherlands Antilles) and Sea Breeze can for sure compete with the places where we stayed in the past and certainly deserves a sincere positive 'review' in the form of our great experience. It may be clear that my girlfriend and I had an unforgettable time at Sea Breeze! Therefore many thanks to Terry and Diana for their warm hospitality, to Dedi, Ferdi and Damsi for the fine spotting, to our companiable and professional boat crew Utung (captain), Anus and Ferri, to Gideon for the well filled tanks and to all others that make Sea Breeze a great and enjoyable dive resort to visit! Jonna and I hope to visit Sea Breeze once more in the future!

Happy diving!

Oscar

 

[JonnaJo]

Hi!

Think andwi are right.
Equipment is no good and dont like the room or food.

 

[Tha Ozzie]

Hi!

Think andwi are right.
Equipment is no good and dont like the room or food.

Dear JonnaJo,

I hope you didn't join Scubaboard only for this 'detailed' response . And like Andwi this message seems to be also from a more anonymous Scubaboard member and I just wonder if you ever went to Seabreeze

If you didn't like the room and food I'm just curious what place on Bunaken you think offers better room and food just in case I want to go there in the future. I suspect this will be a realy more expensive place because the room and food is hard to beat at Seabreeze! After traveling 4 weeks on Java, North Sulawesi and Bali the food at Seabreeze was one of the best!

Looking at the posts at Scubaboard almost all people liked Seabreeze including the bungalows and the food so just let me know what Seabreeze can improve about the rooms and the food. I'm sure Terry will aprreciate some hints from you to improve this although I personally think this is not necessary at all! It may be of help for the Seabreeze crew to tell them in which room or bungalow you were in (and when) and what improvements they can make not only for the rooms but also for the food.

Oscar

 

[JonnaJo]

Hi ozzie!

You wonder make me sad.
Your first writing in scubaboard, seabreeze is good.
My first writing in scubaboard, seabrease is no good.
What diffrent?

I was with seabreeze.
Was in room in garden, up for stairs from resturant.
Been many times in indonesia doing diving. Is many times in cheap room and other
hotel is more good.

 

[gee13]

The bottom line is etiquette! Yes, andwi if you didnt like your stay then make a constructive review. Not post with a header to avoid the resort. If you are absolutely certain that 80% or more of divers that stayed on the resort with you, including at the time you stayed; were totally unhappy with the operation then you have some cause to bring this up. The fact that there have been numerous responses that have opposite and more positive feedback highlights that seabreeze and their management do have some degree of reliability and respectability. jonnajo surfacing out of nowhere to make 2 posts on the matter just makes me think smear campaign.

 

[Tapas bali]

It is really frustrating when people go stay in budget operations then complain like hell afterwards. You want better quality then you need to pay a bit more money.

Could not agree less...:cool2: